


say that i guess it’s all okay

by ohallows



Category: Rusty Quill Gaming (Podcast)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Comfort, Conversations, Family, Gen, we stan the two low charisma characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-01
Updated: 2019-11-01
Packaged: 2021-01-18 07:10:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21271679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohallows/pseuds/ohallows
Summary: The sun is just beginning to set on the distant horizon when Sasha finishes helping out the crew with some odd jobs around the ship. She climbs up to the crows nest and leans on the railing as she stares out over the clouds. Streaks of red and burnished orange play across the sky, lighting the world in color. The breeze blowing through her hair feels nice, and it's freeing to be this far above the ground. For someone from Other London, even the concept of being high in the sky is unthinkable. But here she is, and she’s got a load of tales to tell her mates if she ever makes it back down there.
Relationships: Sasha Racket & Zolf Smith
Comments: 5
Kudos: 52
Collections: Rusty Quill Gaming Girls Week





	say that i guess it’s all okay

**Author's Note:**

> rqgg week day 5: comfort

The sun is just beginning to set on the distant horizon when Sasha finishes helping out the crew with some odd jobs around the ship. She climbs up to the crows nest and leans on the railing as she stares out over the clouds. Streaks of red and burnished orange play across the sky, lighting the world in color. The breeze blowing through her hair feels nice, and it's freeing to be this far above the ground. For someone from Other London, even the concept of being high in the sky is unthinkable. But here she is, and she’s got a load of tales to tell her mates if she ever makes it back down there.

She doesn’t want to go back, not really. Not now, not when she knows what freedom tastes like. That’s just… not in the cards, anymore. 

She sees Zolf sitting back on the far end of the ship and decides to go say hello, climbing along the rigging with an almost practiced ease. It comes natural to her, this does. She gets closer and slows up, trying to see if she can make it all the way next to him without him noticing. 

Zolf looks distinctly green, but he’s soldiering on, swallowing uncomfortably as he rests his head back against the side of the ship. “All right, Sasha?” he greets, staring straight ahead. She’s almost impressed that he realized it was her, but figures no one else on this boat would try to sneak up on him, and Hamid and Bertie weren’t going to be climbing anytime soon. 

“You alright, boss?” she asks, swinging down to a lower point in the rigging, until she’s nearly right above him. Zolf looks up and immediately goes cross-eyed, eyelids snapping shut as he leans forward and sticks his head between his knees.

“Peachy,” he grunts. “Me and the air don’t get along much.”

“Poseidon thing?”

He shakes his head, barely. “Dwarf thing. I’ll be fine.”

“You don’t look it,” Sasha says, and Zolf glances up to give her a baleful look. “Sorry.” 

“It’s fine,” he says with a sigh, tucking his head back between his knees. 

“I wasn’t - well, I was, I guess, but, uh. I was more talking about, well. Your brother, and dad, and all that.”

“Oh,” he says, caught off guard, and Sasha feels her cheeks warm. 

“Sorry, I didn’t - didn’t mean anything by it, sorry -“

“No, you’re fine it’s… it’s been a while,” Zolf says, cutting her off, and it’s short and terse and muffled from where his head is tucked between his knees as he valiantly tries not to throw up. Sasha considers for a minute and drops down from the rigging, landing softly on the deck.

“Mate… just cause it’s been a while don’t mean it stops hurting.”

Zolf looks up at that as well, and his face is unreadable as stone. Sasha looks away, slipping her hands into her pockets as she brings her knees up to her chest, mimicking Zolf’s pose. 

“I know how you feel, mate,” Sasha says quietly, and palms one of her favorite knives (although honestly, all of them are her favorite) to feel more comfortable. Emotional conversations have never been her forte, but she’s willing to try for Zolf. And maybe… maybe she needs this too, a bit. 

“...Yeah,” Zolf finally says, staring straight ahead. They lapse into a comfortable silence, sun finally setting on the horizon as stars begin to blink above them. 

Sasha still can’t get over the sky. In Other London, there’d been a roof above her head at all times. She hadn’t gotten to see the sun, the stars, the sky. It’s so much bigger than she’d imagined, vast in a way that was hard for her to comprehend. And here, on the airship, the sky looks endless. There’s no buildings blocking her way, no… no vengeful sea god distracting her from the open expanse, no threat of being followed keeping her eyes locked away from looking up. 

It’s peaceful. She thinks she could be happy, up here. And Amelia is proper cool, she is. Maybe… maybe after everything with the simulacrum is figured out, Sasha can take a job on an airship. Or even a boat, she’s not picky, and then Zolf could come along as well. They’d just have to find a way to stop Hamid from being seasick all the time, because he’s there too in this future she’s imagined. 

They’re her family, which is something Sasha never really expected she’d have. Not a real one, at least, not anything different from the family Barrett brought her into that was less about caring for each other and more about making sure no one was standing behind you, ready to stab you in the back. 

“I’m sorry,” Zolf says, suddenly. “About Brock, and, well. I wasn’t in… the best state after being stuck down there for a week. I didn’t mean to say you should get over all this. Gods know I lost my brother years ago and I still wonder what he would say to me.”

Oh. She - she hasn’t thought about it, really, although it had stung at the time. It’s all been a bit distracting - the simulation, fleeing Paris, the thrill of the airship… it must have only been two or three days ago, and yet it feels like so much longer. They never do seem to stop moving, not really.

“Hey, Zolf… What happened? To your brother, and all. You never talk about him,” she asks, and a flash of pain lances across his face. It’s only for a moment before he schools his expression back into something forcibly casual, unaffected, and Sasha wonders when he had to learn to do that, because she knows exactly how the same expression sits on her face. She nearly feels bad for asking, but there’s a curl of genuine curiosity there. Zolf doesn’t talk about his past much - and honestly, thinking about it, Sasha realizes she barely knows anything about his past. She wants to change that. 

“Yeah, I… don’t like to think about it much. There was an accident, I was there, I - sorry,” he says, running a hand through his hair. “I haven’t really talked about it much. At all. He was - he was really all I had left, and then just…” 

Zolf takes a deep breath and glances down at his ring, thumb brushing against the metal, and Sasha bites her lip. 

“I ran away. You’ve heard the rest. Joined a ship, started worshipping Poseidon, and got picked up by some pirates. Lost my leg. And now,” he gestures to the airship. “I’m here.”

“Well,” Sasha starts, flipping her knife up and down to give herself something to do with her hands. “If it helps, I’m glad you’re here, boss.”

Zolf looks at her, almost surprised, and then a faint smile blooms on his face. “I’m glad you’re here too, Sasha.”

He’s looking distinctly less green, more settled, although it doesn’t look like he’s planning to move anytime soon. It’s cold on the airship, and Sasha’s jacket might be magic but it’s still thin. She shivers, and Zolf starts next to her, before sitting up a bit more. 

“D’you mind if I…” he trails off, and reaches a hand out. Sasha nods, trusting him, and he touches her shoulder. A breath of warmth passes through her body, staving off the chill. “Endure elements,” he explains, wiggling his fingers. “Should keep you warm.”

“Cheers, boss,” she says, already more comfortable. Sasha leans her head back against the wall of the ship and looks up at the stars. She scoots a bit closer to Zolf; he’s got a comforting presence, is all. And even with the spell, she’s still a little cold. She watches the stars and clouds slowly pass them by, and breathes out steadily. 

It’s peaceful. 

—

She wakes up the next morning with her head on Zolf’s shoulder; her neck’s cramped and stiff, and she sits up to rub at it almost embarrassedly. Her back hurts again, and she’s pretty sure she may have stained the wall of the ship with her blood, but that’s a problem for the future. She can apologize later, maybe mention it offhandedly to Hamid, insinuate that Amelia likes a clean ship and she might have just noticed some blood on deck, and maybe he could clean it up. 

Yeah. That’s the plan. 

In the meantime, she’s gonna sneak away before Zolf can wake up. Even though she rested, she’s still tired, and sleeping sat against a wall isn’t the most restful, so she might just nip below decks and crawl into her hammock for a couple hours. She stands up silently and chews at her lip. Maybe she can grab Zolf some food before going to sleep, something to settle his stomach. He doesn’t have to know it was her; she can just leave it next to him, pretend it was from the crew, and they can avoid all the awkwardness.

She nods to herself and heads off, still rubbing at the back of her neck, doing the best to massage the soreness away.

(She doesn’t see Zolf open one eye a crack and watch as she pads away, a small, fond smile spreading across his face, before he closes his eyes and falls back asleep, nausea nearly gone.)

**Author's Note:**

> i can’t believe two low charisma characters had one of the most beautiful friendships i’ve ever seen i love these two so much gdi. 
> 
> also why DID zolf have such a bad time in the air alex and ben explain 
> 
> also ALSO i reread zolfs backstory for this and holy shit ben. holy shit.


End file.
